The Russian Embassy in Canada has tried to tie the conspiracy case of Maria Butina to the Me Too movement against sexual harassment and assault. The embassy said her conviction shows the “bias and hypocritical” nature of western feminism. But Butina’s prosecution has no link to #metoo or feminism.

After testing the Avangard hypersonic glider, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the rocket system is “invulnerable” to interception. And while the Avangard has stoked fears some corners, Putin’s claim it is impervious to existing and prospective missile-defense systems is unverified.

Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov’s claim that the U.S. “poured” too much money into the coup in Ukraine appears to be based on a mischaracterization about the total foreign aid given to Ukraine since the collapse of the Soviet Union

Vladimir Putin

President of the Russian Federation

“Now about Wagner and what people are doing. Everyone must stay within the law, everyone. … We can ban private security activity in general, but one has only has to do this and, I think, they will come to you with a large number of petitions, demanding protection of this labor market. We have almost a million people working there. If this Wagner group is violating something, then the Prosecutor General’s Office should give a legal assessment.”

Wagner -- which has enjoyed support from the Russian defense establishment and is most likely a creation of the Russian Defense Ministry -- is in violation of the Russian law banning mercenary activity.

Vladimir Putin

Russian President

“... We know the largest American base has existed on Okinawa for a long time, for a decade now … the Governor of Okinawa is against ... its expansion. He's against it ... And the people who live there are against it.”

Okinawa hosts 32 U.S. military facilities – the highest concentration of the American military bases in Japan. The local government and population oppose the presence of those bases, citing environmental pollution and economic losses.

Vladimir Putin

Russian President

“Sirkpal, thank God, is alive. Nevertheless, there are a bunch of sanctions against Russia …This is a politicized Russophobic approach. It is a pretext, nothing more than a pretext to organize another attack on Russia.”

While Vladimir Putin claimed that Western reaction to the Skripal poisoning was merely a pretext to contain Russia, there is considerable evidence pointing to Russia. Putin made a similar claim regarding Russia's annexation and occupation of the Crimean peninsula.

Vladimir Putin

President of the Russian Federation

"We should treat the representatives of all religions in the same way - this is true, but still, it is also necessary to take into account the country and the society in which we live. True, this does not mean at all that we should include representatives of religious communities in some destructive, or even in terrorist organizations. Of course, this is complete nonsense, you need to carefully deal with it. Here I agree with you."

Incidents of state persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia have been recorded as far back as 2007. The Russian Supreme Court designated the church as an “extremist organization” in April 2017. Is it really possible that Vladimir Putin knew nothing about this?

Dmitry Kiselyov

CEO, Rossiya Segodnya

“Hypocrisy! Time puts on the same board the murdered American journalists from Capital Gazette and the incident with radio broadcaster Tatiana Felgengauer… attacked with a knife by a mentally ill sex maniac who cut the skin on her neck.”

Despite Kiselyov's "outrage," Felgengauer was stabbed in her throat and seriously wounded. The doctors had to put her under induced coma for the surgery, injuries from an attack that followed a Russian state media broadcast warning of the "danger such journalists pose."

While a debate rages within the U.S. regarding the country’s plea bargaining system and the use of solitary confinement, there is no evidence that Maria Butina was faced with circumstances that deviate from current norms in the U.S. criminal justice system.

The original ‘report’ of destruction emerged from Islamic State media, was picked up by Syrian media and later the Russian state media outlet. The hospital in question was still standing as of December 9. An explosion was reported in the hospital that day, but what caused it is unclear.

Vladimir Putin

President, Russia

"This poor girl is in jail, our Butina, she is facing 15 years imprisonment, for what? When I heard that something was going on with her … first I asked all the heads of our special services, who is this? No one knows anything about her at all; the only person who knows something about her is in the Federation Council; she was perhaps working for one of the deputies there, that’s all.”

Vladimir Putin’s claims are false: Maria Butina is reportedly known in Russian intelligence circles and the country’s Foreign Ministry has demonstrated uncharacteristic interest in her fate. In making her guilty please, Butina said she was acting voluntarily and with no coercion.